Healthconnect Lauds Langabeer’s Contributions, Announces Acting CEO

Jim Langabeer built an organization that, for the first time, has enabled our community’s leading healthcare institutions to achieve true continuity of care for the benefit of their patients. We are truly grateful for his leadership.

Houston, TX (PRWEB) February 28, 2014

Healthconnect announced today that Dr. Jim Langabeer will be resigning as President and CEO of the health information network to return to The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston where he will serve as a professor of biomedical informatics and emergency medicine as well as the director of research in emergency medicine. Healthconnect’s board of directors will be conducting a formal, national search for the CEO position; in the interim, Dr. Phil Beckett has been appointed acting chief executive officer.

The nonprofit organization has experienced unparalleled growth since becoming operational under the direction of Dr. Jim Langabeer in January 2012. Healthconnect now stands as one of the largest operational public HIEs in the country. The chair of the Healthconnect board of directors, Dr. Bernard Harris, vocalized the organization’s appreciation for Dr. Langabeer’s many contributions, “Jim Langabeer built an organization that, for the first time, has enabled our community’s leading healthcare institutions to achieve true continuity of care for the benefit of their patients. We are truly grateful for his leadership.” This momentum will continue going forward, as most of the leading healthcare organizations have agreed to participate in the network, including CHRISTUS Health, Harris Health System, Houston Methodist, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Texas Children’s Hospital, UT Medical Branch at Galveston, and 270 other hospitals and clinics in Southeast Texas.

With so many major health systems contracted to exchange health information, Healthconnect is entering a period of intensive technological implementation. These implementations are the gateway to interoperability among the various health systems in the region to improve health outcomes. Currently 20+ implementations are slated for 2014 alone.

Dr. Phil Beckett, who has served as Healthconnect’s Chief Technology Officer for the past two years, has played a leadership role in advancing health information exchanges at the local, state and national levels. Dr. Langabeer said that “Phil Beckett’s knowledge of health information technology, as well as the needs of clinicians that the network is serving, has enabled Healthconnect to move quickly to the implementation phase. I expect this network to continue to thrive under his leadership.” Dr. Beckett holds a PhD in Bio Sciences from the University of Aberdeen and has worked in the Texas Medical Center for the past 22 years. “We have the opportunity to show the nation how to facilitate outstanding coordination of patient care. Every patient should have the opportunity to receive the best personalized care because their provider has access to their records.”

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About Greater Houston Healthconnect
Greater Houston Healthconnect is an independent, community-based organization responsible for enabling information exchange among healthcare providers in a 20-county region. It is tasked with mobilizing healthcare information electronically across organizations to enhance the safety, quality, and efficiency of care and improve information access throughout the region. Key stakeholders include healthcare providers, payers, employers and the community as a whole. For more information, visit http://www.ghhconnect.org/.